On the day after Thanksgiving Day 2013 â?? a day grandfathers and fathers in Louisiana and Arkansas may be discussing with grandsons and sons for decades â?? LSU true freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings, a little used backup, replaced an injured Zach Mettenberger in the fourth quarter and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Travin Dural with 75 seconds left for a 31-27 win over Arkansas.

But that's not the whole story. Jennings, who entered the game never having thrown a pass in a Southeastern Conference game, drove the Tigers a school-record tying 99 yards in eight plays for that game-winning touchdown.

On his first SEC snap in the previous drive, the Tigers were whistled for a false start. After three plays gained six yards and LSU settled for a 37-yard field goal to cut Arkansas' lead to 27-24, things did not progress well from there. Mettenberger was in pain on the sidelines and was not coming back.

Another true freshman, Ethan Pocic, had just started playing center because of an injury to Elliott Porter. Starting right tackle Jerald Hawkins had also just left the game with an injury. Junior Evan Washington â?? one start to his name â?? took over. Wide receiver Odell Beckham, one of LSU's best weapons, injured his hip in the first half and was done for the day, too.

The No. 15 Tigers were on the verge of the most embarrassing loss in school history since a 21-12 defeat at the hands of Miami of Ohio in 1986. An 8-3 LSU team was about to lose to a 3-8 Arkansas team that came in 0-7 in the SEC. A winning LSU team had not lost to such a bad team since 1982 when the Orange Bowl-bound, 8-2-1, No. 7 Tigers lost, 31-28, to 3-7 Tulane in the regular season finale.

"They were just a couple of first downs away," a breathless LSU coach Les Miles said.

But after three quarters of terrible football by the apparently turkey-lethargic Tigers, LSU woke up. A second straight three-and-out by a defense, which allowed 336 yards in the first three quarters to one of the nation's worst offenses, forced another punt. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry, subbing for Beckham on punt returns, chose not to catch Sam Irwin-Hill's punt, and it bounced to the LSU 1 for a 65-yard boot.

- 3:04 to play.

- 99 yards to go.

- Down 27-24.

- At the controls? A true freshman quarterback whose last significant snap before Friday was at Marietta High in Georgia a year ago.

"I said, 'Let's go,'" Jennings said. "There was no doubt in my mind."

He rushed for two yards. He found tight end Dillon Gordon for 16. After an incompletion, he found Landry for 11. Then he scrambled for 21 to the Arkansas 49. Halfway there. After an incompletion and a completion for no gain to tailback Jeremy Hill, LSU faced a third and 10 with 1:22 to play. The Tigers called their last timeout. A few plays before, LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had mentioned something to Miles.

"Travin Dural really runs fast, and at this point, no one knows that," Cameron told Miles. Cameron had noticed Arkansas cornerback Jared Collins was playing up on Dural as if he was not a deep threat. "We want to take a shot."

Arkansas did not have a lot of film on Dural, a redshirt freshman from Breaux Bridge who entered the game with all of six catches for 96 yards and one touchdown to his name, but he is as fast as Beckham. Arkansas was focused on Landry, who had just made a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, one-handed catch for that 32-yard gain on Mettenberger's last pass to set up the field goal.

If you don't know that word, ask your grandmother this weekend.

Landry suggested the fly route to Dural as well. Only problem was LSU had not run this play since August â?? in practice. And it was with Mettenberger and Dural. "We really just drew it up in the dirt," Dural said.

And they went with it. Dural lined up wide left near the LSU sideline. Landry lined up in the left slot inside of Dural and ran deep toward the middle of the field, taking both cornerback Jared Collins and a deep safety. Other LSU receivers flooded to the left side like a wave. "Tsunami" is the name of the play, and Jarvis Landry served as the Tsunami.

"Jarvis took the safety and the cornerback," Dural said. "Jarvis took everybody away from me."

Dural was all alone, and Jennings let it fly. "If I was on defense, I would've taken Jarvis, too," Jennings said.

"No one expected me to be that open. I just got behind the defense," Dural said.

Jennings just hoped he didn't throw it too far. "I felt pretty good about it when I let it go," he said. "I just had to confirm and see it."

Now came the catching part. Dural was so open for so long that he had so much time to think about it. So did those in Tiger Stadium.

"Don't drop it. Just don't drop it," Dural said he told himself as the ball started its descent. "I kept saying, 'Just make the play. Just make the play.' I've been waiting for this moment all my life."

And he caught it. Touchdown. LSU took the 31-27 lead with 1:15 to go. The defense forced a turnover, and it was over. Jennings finished 4-of-7 passing for 76 yards and rushed three times for 26 yards.

"He was just as cool and calm and comfortable as there is," Miles said. "His demeanor. His poise. It was all there."

They said that about Longley that Thanksgiving long ago. There were not a lot of play selections. Jennings had not taken a lot of snaps in practice. Cameron kept it simple like Tom Landry did with Longley.

"A triumph of the uncluttered mind," Dallas offensive lineman Blaine Nye said on Thanksgiving Day, 1974. But Longley was out of football three years later never to return.

"He's going to be our starting quarterback," LSU cornerback Jalen Mills said of Jennings. "He's the future for us."